


Homeostasis

by Ncj700



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, I can’t even watch ET or Independence Day, Keith is a stubborn boy, Keith's dad - Freeform, Keith's parents, M/M, Multi, Team Voltron Family, Wtf am I even writing about alien biology for anyway, alien babies are difficult to make contingency plans for, but a good boy, i am making up alien biology as i go, ignore my slapdash made up biology I have no idea what I’m talking about, its fun, keith's galra mom, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-09 03:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12267630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ncj700/pseuds/Ncj700
Summary: Keith’s heritage was always there, and more problematic than he can remember. More problematic than his alien heritage, was his alien genealogy; how long will it protect him for when ignorance in space is never bliss?





	1. It Can be His Nickname

A shack in the middle of the desert; if anyone was going to find an alien birthing den on earth, it would be the first and last place they would look.

In the movies, it was always the desert, thanks to cultural myths of Area 51 and the counties U.F.O sightings that had been trickling into the media since the 60s. Abductees would insist that was where they had been beamed aboard mysterious alien craft, they would do home videos of the spots where they were ‘ _taken_ ’. And yet if they were to report a genuine alien sighting, the police would roll their eyes, promise to investigate, and drove past an ordinary poor man’s cabin, lights dim and soft in the night with little out of the ordinary to encourage that ‘ _investigation_ ’.

Akira Kogane was very grateful to those U.F.O enthusiasts in the unspoken, unnoticed thoughts in his mind as his wife dug her pointed dark claws in to the sac melded to the wall of the cupboard. The dim light hanging from the ceiling made it look like one of those nightmare alien things from the films, almost. But not really. Thought there was a mess of thick purple and magenta and red, brown and black in the form of veins and slime and goodness knows what else around the mass.

For three months Cova had prowled and guarded the cupboard as if it contained the secrets of the universe. In a way, it did. Her pointed ears twitched as the moving body within the sack sensed her presence, letting out a cry, a noise Akira would never have been able to make even before his voice broke. He was terrified, and not ashamed to admit it - Cova was too.

The product of their union was about to be born into a universe that could not know of his existence, and neither of them knew what that product would be. Would the child have purple skin and fur like Cova, or would their body mimic his pale but tanned skin? In either case, it would be a cause for concern.

A purple baby would raise a thousand questions on earth; Cova would need to leave with the child. And yet, Cova returning to the galaxies above and beyond would be sentencing herself to death for treason. She could not take their child with her. She was also being hunted - if the babe took after Akira, how safe would they be amongst the stars? Akira had learned enough from Cova to know that by universal standards, Earthlings were at disadvantage in terms of knowledge and even their genetics. Cova had managed to avoid detection on earth thanks to her own heritage, but how were they to know if the baby would have such talent?

Cova’s claws pierced the sac, the _schluccck_ of the substance as it tore accompanied by the expulsion of air and the glutinous spill pf the birthing fluids contained within. Desperately, anxious to reach her child, she pulled through the thick, stretched protective material as the wails of a young creature seeking comfort entrenched its claws on their hearts forever.

Within an age of moments, Akira watched as Cova’s arms were soaked in birth fluids, and filled with a struggling, whimpering baby identical to the Galra woman he’d fallen for. Cova purred soothingly, reaching for the blankets and small trough of warm water they had filled when she scented something, some unique signal only a mother of her kind could trace, could know. Together they wiped the baby down, and Akira couldn’t help but soak in the appearance of the child.

He couldn’t tell if it was boy or a girl, but they had a thick mop of greyish hair, not unlike Cova’s silvery tresses, but darker, without the same iridescence. The Childs eyes also lacked the full intense yellow of Cova’s - the sclera were a little closer to Akira’s white, and deep bush toned dark irises looked up at Cova in absolute adoration.

Like Cova, the baby had large ears, and also the same layer of downy purple fur, again a shade lighter, as if Akira’s human skin had leeched the tone from it. The tail was short and curled around his wife’s wrist, ensuring safety with a little tuft of hair. The claws were also shorter, and more transparent like human keratin rather than full Gala claws.

“This is… our baby,” Cova said in awe, arms supporting the babe anxiously. “He's so... _small,_  I can hold him with one arm…” she bit her lip, then looked to Akira, yellow eyes furrowed by anxious brows.

“Human babies are usually around this size, though I’d say normally smaller,” Akira said. Indeed, the child was far larger than a human new-born might be, but in Cova’s frame he seemed absolutely tiny in comparison, like a premature birth.

“That is good then,” She said, relaxing a little. “He is not… sickly. He doesn’t not smell sickly, but sometimes only the Druids can tell. You are sure it is normal for humans?” She asked again, gently running a fin get along the baby’s sternum and breastbone.

“I promise,” Akira assured her, leaning against his wife’s shoulder and watching contentedly. “You said he - he’s a boy?” He asked. “How can you tell?”

Cova smiled. “His tail, when he grows it will be more obvious, but for now he has no need for breeding, so his tail is the indicator, I suppose” she explained. “Key-thh’s tail,” she said, testing out the name they had chosen for a boy. The frown as she tried to form the name made him smile. “This human name is strange. I still cannot say it. Ketyr is easier.”

“Keith can be his nickname,” Akira chuckled. “How long will you stay?” He asked.

Cova cradled her son a little tighter as he tussled her fur, seeking warmth and comfort, and looked to her husband. “I do not know, he is so small, for a Galra. But it must be soon.” She paused. “One of the transmitters I placed in this solar system, it sensed a ship. It was a drone scout only, but even so. The empire may only be years away from earth. We cannot stay.”

Akira’s eyes widened, trying to ignore the new layer of lead that began to line his stomach with that news. He’d thought they would have had more time, had a chance to work out something of a plan before the empire reached earth’s doorstep.

Keith fussed, perhaps picking up on the worries of his parents, and his distress pulled their thoughts from plans yet to be made. The little life before them was more important.

Keith curled close to his mother’s fur, and his tail wrapped around his father’s finger, and he purred under the care of their gentle hands. The first bonds of unconditional love and care were struck in iron where not even the tyrannical empire’s many eyes could see.

There would be time in the future for worries and concerns over homes and hideouts, but they would wait; on the floor of a wooden cabin, lost amongst the dry desert waste, two people became parents to their child, and there was nothing in all the galaxies that would have prevented this moment of calm and peace.

* * *

I don’t know what this is or where this is going but I’ve got writers block, and had five minutes between work and sleep ~~chaos, in another word~~ and thought a change of scenery would help so. Here’s me. Adding yet another thing to the Galra!Keith collective. kmn. ~~Hell if I know about pairings, I’m multi shipping trash for this fandom~~.

Honestly, I’m still reeling from the fact I’m watching something with aliens ok? This is so far out of my comfort zone omg

~~I really don’t do aliens besides star trek or wars, even E.T. scares me~~

BMYS fans, I haven't forgotten chapter 6, but RL has kinda been a bit off the past few weeks so the progress is slow going. its in the works though!


	2. Hiding Place

Ketyr might have been small for a Galra youngling, but if Akira informed Cova frequently that his growth rate was completely unheard of in a human child.

Within a week of his birth, he was sitting up by himself, and no longer needed neck support when his parents carried him.

“Is this… normal for Galran children?” Akira asked anxiously the day their son took his first shaky steps, a dark indigo blush on his happy cheeks as his father held his arms out.

Ketyr rushed towards him, surer than his first shaky steps towards his mother had been this time, giggling contentedly, ears and tail flicking own contentment.

Cova’s young son had been quick to find his feet, and now that he had figured out how to balance his legs and tail, he was making good progress in investigating his small world.

His body meant that they could only take him outside at night, on the few when he could stay up late enough for the darkness to hide his unusual colouring from human eyes. For now, he was young enough that it would not matter, but she and Akira could not hide him forever.

“What do you mean?” Cova asked, frowning as she concentrated on the human camera in her hands - while she could get by, the written word still sometimes confused her.

“He’s just… human children don’t grow so fast. It takes years till they walk, not _months_.” Akira reminded, grinning at Keith as the boy reached him and let out copious peals of laughter when he reached his father.

“It is normal,” Cova assured him. “It will slow soon; usually once basic functions have been achieved. There is no way to be sure though. I don’t know what effect your human cells have had. It is not my area of… specialty?”

“Expertise,” Akira smiled; Ketyr watched the pair of them, and then reached his arms out towards his mother, whining and calling. Smiling, she held them out, taking a seat on the floor. With another laugh, her son quickly struggled from Akira’s hold and toddled towards her.

“ _Hello, my Ketyr_ ”, she smiled as he clamped his small arms around her. “ _Your father is right, you are growing very fast._ ”

Ketyr blinked up at her eyes wide and curious as his ears twitched, listening intently. Then he pressed his face to her collarbone and whined.

“ _Ah, so that’s what you want my little prince,_ ” she chuckled, before shifting her hold to one arm so the she could let him feed. “ _Very well, but soon you’ll have to start eating properly young one._ ”

“So, should we expect him to start talking soon?” Akira asked, watching them fondly.

“Perhaps another month,” Cova mused, holding her son a little closer to her chest as he suckled. then she looked up in confusion at her husband. “You are sure you cannot also feed your offspring?”

“No, not for human males I’m afraid,” Akira chuckled. “Well, not unless you want to try him on the powdered baby milk I told you about.”

Cova made a face, then glanced down to her son. “No,” she said firmly. “Your normal human food I think will be alright - I can eat it after all, but young ones are different. Need different things, and he not like your human babies. I don’t want him to be unwell,” she decided. “How long will it be before your space garrison order’s you to return?”

Akira blinked then scratched his head. “Well, I applied for parental leave, so I won’t be called to return to active service until Keith is older, or at least the age human children go to school. For now, I have indefinite leave.”

Cova considered that. It meant they had more time to prepare. If she could, she did not want to leave her husband behind, but at some point, they both knew she would have to leave this homely planet with Ketyr.

His skin showed no signs of changing, and he had almost no human traits. Space was no place for any child, but it would be safer for him than a planet that had yet to establish intergalactic relations.

As a human, Akira would be in danger, but he had explored earth’s own small corner of the universe. If she asked him to come with her, she was sure he would. It would be harder, with a human and her son, but Cova had spent years hiding from the empire.

“That is good then,” she decided, flashing her husband a smile.

As predicted, Keith soon began to use words, a mix of his father’s earthling language and the galena tongue his mother used to speak to him with.

By the end of his first year, he was of a size that matched a young human child, perhaps a five-year-old. He spoke well enough and his mind was curious that small toys had long outgrown him.

Any hope his parents had held that his body might change, show some signs of his human heritage had faded. Though his hair had darkened from silvery to a darker, inky shade. “ _It is normal for male Galra,_ ” Cova had informed her husband, with relief. Her own hair colour was normal for a female, but in males it was rare, unique to certain lines, and drew attention. It was better for Keith to look as normal as possible.

It was for that reason too that Keith’s days were spent inside their small desert home until the nights fell. Even in the desert, they were not far from the Garrison, or the town, and there were other humans on what Akira called ‘ _ranches_ ’. It just wasn’t safe, but is parents kept him company as best they could and kept him entertained.

Then when the stars began to glow, they would go outside, and Akira would sit on the porch with him, pointing out the constellations of the Earth solar system. Cova would take him to her ship, to help show him the Galran language.

His mind absorbed the words like a sponge, as much as they did when Akira taught him earth words during the day. They would sit and snuggle in the pilot seat. Cova would change back to her own Galran body too, and she would show him buttons, tell him stories, and Ketyr would beg her to teach him to fly.

“ _One day soon little one,_ ” she promised, each and every night. “ _When it is safe to do teach you._ ”

With that promise, Ketyr would yawn, and snuggle up in the red and white jacket she always ended up wrapping around his shoulders

Sometimes however, it wasn’t enough. Her son was a smart boy, but he was innocent and uncomprehending of adult protection. Sometimes, he just wanted to go outside during the day, and nothing his parents could say would help him understand.

Some months into his second year, there was one of those days.

It started whilst they were watching a television programme about animals, wild dogs. Ketyr had been fascinated, and his father had told him sometimes they passed the house at sunset.

He wanted to see them. Ketyr didn’t understand that it was strange to have a parent with purple, furry skin and big ears. That his tail and yellow eyes might have other humans pointing guns at him out of fear and ignorance. He just wanted to see wild dogs.

Most of the time, he would sulk but accept the words that it was too dangerous, but that day had been an off day; Ketyr had felt strange in the morning, but they had put it down to the human food he had tried that day - strawberries were new to him, and Cova. He seemed to have enjoyed them, but had been whiny and complained of feeling strange all morning. He didn’t even have his normal afternoon nap such was his discomfort.

So, it was unsurprising that when his pleads to go outside were denied that her son did something he rarely had cause to do. He stared at his parents, tears starting to build and flow, then he began to howl unhappily at the situation.

“ _Ketyr, stop that_ ,” Cova tried to sound stern, but there was no force in her words. It was not his fault. He was still too young to understand how the universe worked.

“Oh Keith, I’m sorry kiddo, but you know you can’t go outside till it gets dark,” Akira tried, picking the sobbing boy up into his arms to try and comfort him.

“But why?” Ketyr sobbed clinging to his father’s shoulders and sniffling. His tail hung limp and forlorn and his ears were ruling in over his face. “Why can’t we play outside?” He demanded.

Cova shared a glance with Akira. Should they tell him? Or try to? It might help, if he understood. It was worth trying.

“ _Because my little prince,_ ” Cova said, sitting down on the sofa beside Ketyr and Akira. “ _It isn’t safe for us. Do you see that you and I, we look a little different to your father?_ ” She asked gently, carefully.

Keith stared at her from behind his watery eyes and sniffled. “ _Daddy doesn’t have a tail, like Keith, and isn’t fluffy like Mama,_ ” he said.

“Yes, that’s right,” Cova smiled. “Your daddy is from this place where we live, and there are lots of people that look like him, but they might be scared of us if they see us, they might hurt us.”

“Why? Mama isn’t scary, and Keith is good,” her son frowned, unable to grasp the concept. Cova hoped he could hold onto that feeling for a long time, but it made her hearts crumple in her chest.

“I know she isn’t, and you’re a good boy Keith,” Akira smiled, running his hand over the thick, fluffy fur that surrounded Ketyr’s ears, trying to soothe him. “I’m sorry we can’t let you go out and see the sunshine; I know it’s hard for you to understand, but it’s not because you did anything wrong. It just that, other people, people who look like daddy, might not think that.”

Ketyr looked at his father, then to his mother, still sniffling and his tail curled around Akira’s arm as he snuggled the man, thankfully taking some calm from his words.

 “But sometimes Mama looks like Daddy.” he said, much to the shock of his parents. “Is that why she can go outside?”

Cova took in a breath - she had not been expecting her son to make that connection, and there was no way to lie. She had feigned a human appearance many times, so that she and Akira could take turns staying at home and going for food supplies from the nearby town. Keith had seen her transform many a time, especially at night, in the ship when it was just the two of them.

“So, if I can look like daddy too, then I can play outside?” Keith asked, getting more shock and worry from his parents. Cova had expected his mind to start catching up with his body, but even so.

She understood her minders despairing when she heard stories of her childhood far better now that she had a young one of her own to ask questions he was too young to hear a full answer to. Akira was even more shocked - human children were so much slower to grow after all.

“It is,” she said. “Well, I suppose so, _but it is very difficult, and you are too young Ketyr, and not everyone can—_ ”

Cova found herself speechless as her son scrunched his face. “No! I wanna go outside! I want to go outside with Mama and Daddy!” He said, sharp and determined, almost as if he might start crying again if told otherwise.

As Akira moved his lips to scold their son for being rude, no sound emerged. Instead, he watched alongside Cova in shock as the spirit of Ketyr’s words seemed to meld with his skin.

It was far slower than anything Cova could do, but Keith’s purple skin and fur was disappearing into a paler tone that matched that of Cova’s earthling appearance. His black hair grew a little longer, flopping over his eyes, the whites that emerged. The claws disappeared, and his feet changed.

Keith changed to a human in front of their eyes, and though both his parents were concerned that his growth rate might be even more than an average Galra, relief couldn’t help but flow through them.

If Keith could learn to hold this image of himself, he might just be safe from the dangers of space and his mother’s empire after all.

* * *

Hooo lookit, a chapter two. Little Keith is growing up, and scaring his parents shitless in the process ~~it's not his fault, he's a good kid really~~


	3. Infinity & Beyond

After Keith had managed his first transformation, it got easier. With Cova’s help, he learned quickly, and followed her example.

He maintained it for as long as he could - his parents had told him that if he could hold his body in a form that looked like his father’s then they would let him come with them when they went to collect some things from town next time.

Keith was eager to prove he could. Luckily, this seemed to be the only thing which was abnormal. It took a couple more years for Keith to manage that goal, and in that time, his body settled its rapid growth.

He looked to be about six, maybe seven years old when his body started to develop more along the lines of a human child. His mind hadn’t quite caught up, but it was close. His words were as full as any human child’s could be at the same ‘ _age_ ’, and he was happy. That was all that they could ask for really.

He was a happy, smart, boy, and no matter how much more advanced his body was than others his lineal age, he still had all the innocence and love for his parents that only children could possess.

‘ _It is your strange human food,_ ’ Cova said one day, eyeing some plastic wrapped beef she had brought back from the butchers with disapproval. ‘ _What I wouldn’t give for some odagnir steaks – they are good for children his age,_ ’ she sighed wistfully.

Akira had no idea what odagnir steaks were, but if the expression on his wife face was anything to go by, she had an attachment to them not unlike his love for the hot dog stands near the Mexican border.

One thing that had changed again however was Keith’s normal hair colour; much to Cova’s displeasure and pleasure. It appeared the black colour it had turned had simply been an early indicator that he had inherited his mother’s talent.

In his human body, it remained black but after changing back that first day to his Galra body, he once again had his mother’s white hair. On one hand Cova liked having a physical resemblance to her son, but the reasons she had been happy it turned black had not gone away.

Still, with Keith able to mimic a human appearance, things were easier. No longer did he have to hide away during the day. He could go outside and play, go with them to town, or go with his father when he took the hover bike out to the next house over a few miles away. He even made friends.

That had warranted an important conversation about not telling people he could pretend to be others, but no incidents occurred.

Plans could, finally begin to change. For a while.

“I don’t think we should leave, not until Ketyr is older,” Cova said, one evening on the steps of the porch.

Akira sat behind her, arm around her shoulders, nose pressed against her soft fur as Keith sat drawing an outline of the low crags that would eventually lead into the Sierra Madre in the evening sun.

“But the transmitter? It sensed a Galra drone ship, when Keith was born,” Akira frowned. It felt like such a long time ago now. Was it really over three years now? It didn’t feel like it.

“It did, but there have been no more since, and it is still functioning,” Cova assured him. “I don’t want him to live like that. I don’t want to, though I cannot abandon my duty forever, but… I want our son to have a childhood, no matter how unusual it may be to us,” she smiled.

“Here?”

“Yes,” Cova nodded. “At least, until he is grown. When he is old enough to understand.”

Akira wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed one of her ears. “If you think it’s safe, then I have no complaints. I’ll agree with anything that keeps you both here on my backwater little planet for a while longer,” he grinned.

Cova rolled her eyes, instead turning to her son as he rushed over to them holding up his picture.

“ _What have you got there little one?_ ” She asked, taking the picture.

“The mountains!” Keith said. “The fuzzy ones!” He added, pointing to the range just disappearing into the encroaching sunset.

The picture was a bit scribbly, mostly lines but it was also decorated with purple stick figures and the hover bike, Keith's favourite film character, and their small shack.

“ _It’s wonderful,_ ” Cova smiled, watching as Keith clambered into his father’s arms for a tired cuddle. His tail wrapped around his arms as Akira shifted to hold him, and his sun crooned happily at the gentle nuzzles of his ears.

As long as his son was safe and happy, Akira would agree to anything. That was his only goal.

“I think someone’s tired,” he chuckled as Keith yawned. “C’mon kiddo, bedtime,” he said, getting to his feet.

Keith simply clung on and nodded, allowing his father to carry him inside; Akira couldn’t help wishing that he was still smaller, easier to carry. He was young to be a father, but he felt older lately, winded more easily. He’d never understood why everyone told him children were exhausting until now.

The days passed in patterns. When he was not helping his parents with their visits to town, Keith was taught at home. They could hardly register him for a school when according to his birth certificate, he was only three years old., soon to be four. Akira could have faked one, but he didn’t know where he would get an accurate one so far from any major cities and towns.

His mind was sharp and as advanced as his body however, and he needed to learn. Galran was something that came easily to him, his mother had always used it, Akira had also learned a great deal with prolonged exposure to the alien tongue, and English was the same.

Numbers were easier. Apparently even counting was a universal skill, and differences were seemingly only linguistic ones. Geography was harder.

Akira did his best to teach Keith whatever he wanted to know about earth while he could. Now that Keith was older in human terms of age, his parental leave had ended and he would be going back into an office job at the Garrison.

He would miss being able to play and teach his son so often, so he wanted to take the opportunity while he could. Keith also seemed to enjoy his lessons, but something seemed to bother him about them on occasion.

“Where is Mum from?” He asked Akira one day, after watching a documentary on European countries. “All the places you showed me, no-one looks like me or Mum,” he said frowning a little.

At a loss of what to do, Akira had gone into the wardrobe and pulled out his old model of the solar system. He’d stowed it away given its outdated status when he had met Cova, but it had sentimental value from childhood.

Perhaps it might help explain things to Keith. After a little tinkering, he returned to his son a few days later as he worked through some of the Galran alphabet with his mother.

“That is most horrendously inaccurate,” Cova laughed quietly, hiding her grin from Keith as the contraption caught his absolute attention.

Setting it down, Akira smiled back. “Well, I’ve not travelled the galaxies dear, it was a lot of guesswork, but hopefully it will serve its purpose” he laughed. “Keith, this a model that shows us what the solar system looks like - do you see this big yellow ball in the centre?”

Keith was star struck by the contraption, listening intently and absorbing everything his father told him about the gas giants, the sun.

“We haven’t got to Pluto yet, but in a few more years there will be a ship that will take people there,” he said, leading into what he really wanted to explain to his son.

“That’s so cool!” Keith exclaimed, poking the tiny Pluto on its spindly holder. “There’s really planets bigger and tinier than earth?” He asked. “But it takes so long just to get to town!”

Akira laughed again. “It does, and it takes even longer to get to Pluto!” He said, picking up a few more spokes with attached planetary spheres and fastening them to the model. “But it takes even longer to get here, to these planets.”

“What are they called?”

“This one here,” Cova said, moving closer to join in and touching a large red metallic painted sphere. “Is Daibazaal, and it has three moons,” she said. “Galleria, Sahlia, and Drule. It is three times bigger than earth,” she said, a little wistfully.

Even if the planet was nothing but a galactic ruin, the moons were still habitable, and Akira knew from her stories that she was remembering them rise in rotation, marking the passage of days on the white, blue and green orbs as they interchanged amongst the day and night skies.

“It is where I was born,” she added, running her hands through her son’s fur. “There are lots of people there, who look like us, the same way that everyone on earth looks like your father,” she explained.

Keith blinked between his parents. “So, Dad is from Texas, which is here,” he said, pointing to Earth on the model. “And Mum is from here,” he continued pointing to Daibazaal. “But Dad, you said people can’t get to Pluto! How did Mum get here if no-one can get to Pluto? Is that why Mum and I have to change when we go outside during the day?”

“That’s a story for another day I think, but yes, in a way,” Akira nodded.

“So, would Dad have to turn purple too if we went there?” Keith asked curiously, eyes a little excited. “I wanna see Dad turn purple!”

Cova laughed, and kissed him on the forehead. “I would like to see this too,” she grinned at him. “Why have you never turned purple Akira?”

“I can’t turn purple, I’m afraid son,” Akira chuckled. “But speaking of that, you ready for tonight? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No! I wanna stay over at Shiro’s!” Keith said stubbornly. “I promise I can do it! Please! Please! Please!”

Keith had recently been invited on a sleepover with one of his friends from the town. The Shirogane family had moved to the area for work at the Galaxy Garrison main branch from the Japanese one, and Keith had met their young son, Takeshi, in the supermarket.

They had hit it off, and while there had been several playdates, and plenty of days out with the family, it was the first time Keith would ever be staying over somewhere without his parents.

They wanted him to have a normal childhood though, and so with some precautions, had decided to allow the stay provided he could hide his Galra body for a whole day and night. Keith had been holding it up all day today, and if he could do so through the night too, then he would be able to go on the sleepover.

“Alright, if you want to try then you can, but you have to tell us if you start to feel tired or sick, understand?” Cova said.

“Yes Mum!” Keith promised quickly. “If I can’t do it can Shiro still come for dinner?”

“Of course he can,” she smiled. “ _But I think you can do it! Just remember what I told you about thinking about changing too much, yes?_ ”

“ _I will!_ ” Keith nodded confidently. “Can I go play outside for a while?”

Cova nodded, and Keith ran off to go get whatever game or tools he needed to keep himself busy while he played. As his feet patted rapidly from the room, she looked at her husband.

“That went well, do you think he understands more now?” She asked.

“Maybe a little - it’s hard to tell, sometimes he catches things so quickly and other times he’s just like any other little boy, Galra or human I imagine,” Akira shrugged flopping g down on the slightly threadbare sofa. He was exhausted from the day, and the day before and the day before.

“You feel unwell again; you need a human healer,” Cova noted, nostrils seeming to catch a scent his nose could not. “I told you last week that you didn’t smell right.”

“I’m just tired love, all the paperwork I had to hand in for going back to the garrison took more out of me than I thought it would” he reasoned. Cova remained unconvinced, but sat down beside him all the same.

“Very well, if you are sure,” she sighed. “It will be strange, but maybe it will be good too.” She stretched, her red and white jacket lifting up over her shirt, a bit too large on her human body. “I should check the deep space scanners tonight, make a trip. I haven’t done one for a while,” she sighed.

“It would be better now rather than later. How long?” Akira asked. “I’ve still got two weeks left before I actually go back.

“Perhaps one week,” Cova mused. “That should be enough time.”

Akira kissed her on the forehead. “Alright, I’ll tell Keith tomorrow morning.”

Later, at night while Keith slept, Cova’s ship glamoured out of sight, and the purr of its engines melted away into the dark, unnoticed and unseen.

Unbeknownst to any member of the small family, this particular deep space trip would change the course of their lives, and that of their life together.

* * *

~~I want them to be a happy family forever but shit gotta hit the fan~~

~~~~Enjoy!


End file.
